Monday, January 25, 2016

Second Semester Begins!

Welcome to the second half of the year, artists and scholars! It seems by all students who earned passing grades in English this semester that the majority of the Middle Schoolers are in the swing of things at ORAA. As we shift gears to a more integrated approach to curriculum in the coming semester, I just want to make some general announcements:


  1. Students are expected to read a level-appropriate books for 20-30 minutes each night. 
  2. It is the student responsibility to keep up with assignments during absence and illness through moodle and blogs. 
As of January 26, students in 6-8 will be receiving their History and English grades in my class. Please make sure students stay on top of assignments when they are absent or need to miss class! 

Assignments for the week of January 26, 2016: 

Tuesday-Friday: Workshop Time. 
   In a self directed manner, students will complete the following items before the end of the period on Friday: 
  • vocabulary booklet (half-sheet for each of the vocabulary words)
  • vocabulary worksheet
  • weekly grammar worksheet (more quotation marks this week)
  • Portrait Study--on a piece of paper, write:
    • What do you notice about the portraits? 
    • What is the same about the portraits? What is different about the portraits?
    • How do the selection of portraits relate to our theme? 
    • What time period in history might the portraits portray? How do you know?
Students will also create a poster with a group that states the following for their selected time periods on a 12x18 piece of paper:
  • where people lived
  • a timeline of significant historical events
  • what people wore
  • who lived in families in the chosen time periods
  • who were the enemies of the state during this time period
  • what people did for fun and recreation during this time period
Sixth grade students will be studying ancient Rome, reading the plays of Plautus.
Seventh grade will be studying the European Middle Ages/reading MacBeth through act 3. 
Eighth grade will be studying the westward expansion from President Jackson to Lewis and Clark/reading Huckleberry Finn through chapter 10. 

Here are links to the readings for the unit. Students will be expected to be able to read these materials at home. If you cannot make an electronic device available for your child to read, please purchase or borrow the corresponding book so that your child does not fall behind. 





A book report on these works will be due next week as part of the Integrated History/English curriculum. 

Please email me with any questions! Thanks! 










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